Ain Shams Engineering Journal (2014) 5, 305308

Ain Shams University

Ain Shams Engineering Journal

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ENGINEERING PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS

EulerSavary formula for the homothetic motion

in the complex plane C
Melek Masal
a
b

a,*

, Soley Ersoy b, Mehmet Ali Gungor

Sakarya University, Faculty of Education, Department of Elementary Education, Hendek, Sakarya, Turkey
Sakarya University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Mathematics, Sakarya, Turkey

Received 17 June 2013; revised 27 July 2013; accepted 12 September 2013

Available online 8 October 2013

KEYWORDS
EulerSavary formula;
Homothetic motion;
Complex plane

Abstract This brief note expanding on one aspect of paper [1], which deals with the complex number form of EulerSavary formula. This formula is the relationship between the radius of the curvature and the curvature center of a path drawn by a point in the coplanar rolling of two conjugate
curves on one another.
We study complex number form of the EulerSavary formula for one parameter homothetic planar motion and the case of the homothetic scale h is equal to 1, given in [1], will appear as a special
case of this study.
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1. Introduction
2

One parameter motions in the Euclidean plane E and the

EulerSavary formula for the planar motions were given by
Muller [2] and this formula is a well known formula that is
used in engineering, biology and mathematics, etc., [35].
For example, a graphical technique to locate the center of curvature of the path traced by a coupler point of a planar, singledegree-of freedom geared seven-bar mechanism is illustrated
and the center of curvature of the path traced by an arbitrary
coupler point is obtained from existing techniques, such as the
EulerSavary equation by [6]. In the other study, a graphical
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 2642957166.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Masal), sersoy@sakarya.
edu.tr (S. Ersoy), [email protected] (M.A. Gungor).
Peer review under responsibility of Ain Shams University.

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technique to obtain the radius of curvature of the path traced

by a coupler point of a planar single-degree of freedom, indeterminate eight-bar linkage commonly referred to as the double ier linkage is expressed and the radius of curvature of
the path traced by the coupler point is obtained from Euler
Savary equation in [7].
Complex numbers are particularly useful in polar coordinate forms and planar motion of a rigid body can be formulated by using complex number instead of vector. Muller and
Blaschke expressed the planar motions via the complex numbers in [8]. Moreover, the moving coordinate system in the
complex plane was dened by [9,10] and the EulerSavary formula for one parameter planar motions in the complex plane C
was obtained in [1]. The kinematically based complex number
approach is exemplied in [11,12]. Also, four new complex vector forms of the EulerSavary equation for higher-pair rolling
contact mechanism were developed in [11]. By using the geometrical interpretation of the Euler Savary formula, Bobillier
formula that concerns the second order properties of planar
motion in the complex plane C, was studied by [13].

2090-4479 2013 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Ain Shams University.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2013.09.006

306

M. Masal et al.

In the present note, planar homothetic motions in the complex plane are given. In doing so, the orthonormal frames
e1 ;~
e01 ;~
fO;~
e2 g and fO0 ;~
e02 g are taken representing moving and
xed complex planes E and E0 and the EulerSavary formula
is obtained for homothetic motion E /E0 .
2. Preliminaries

b b1 ib2 ;

b0 b01 ib02

on the moving coordinate system of A, respectively, then we

have
e iu
X b h Xe

and
e iw
X0 b0 h Xe

where the complex numbers X and X0 denote the point in the

coordinate systems of E and E0 , respectively. Also, the function
h = h(t) is a continuously differentiable function of a real
parameter t and called homothetic scale, [9]. The differentiation of the Eqs. (1) and (2) is
e hd Xe
e iu
dX r dh ihs X

p1

r2  r02
;
hs0  s

p2

r01  r1
:
hs0  s

e hd Xe
e iw
d0 X r0 dh ihs0 X

Now, we will study the EulerSavary formula in the homothetic motion in complex plane C. In this section we choose a relative system {B; a1, a2} satisfying the following conditions:
(i) The initial point B of the system is the instantaneous
rotation pole P (that is P = B).
(ii) The axis {B; a1} coincides with the common tangent of
the pole curves (P) and (P0 ) (see Fig. 1).
If we consider the condition (i), then from the Eqs. (10) and
(11) we see that p1 = p2 = 0.
Thus, it is easily seen that
r1 r01 ;

r2 r02 :

12

From the Eqs. (5) and (6), we have

d0 b r01 a1 r02 a2 db0 ib0 dueiw r0 eiw :

r r1 ir2 db ibdu;

s du

and
r0 r01 ir02 d0 b ib0 dw;

s0 dw:

Hence, the relative and absolute velocity vectors of X are

and

Va

d0 X
;
dt

respectively. If Vr = 0 and Va = 0 then the point X is xed in

the planes E and E0 , respectively. Thus, the conditions that the
points to be xed in planes E and E0 are
e  1 r dh ihs X
e
dX
h

db d0 b dp d0 p:
This means that the moving pole curve (P) and xed pole
curve (P0 ) roll on each other without sliding. From the condition (ii) we have r2 r02 0. If we choose r1 r01 r, then
r = ds is the scalar arc element of the pole curves (P) and
(P0 ) . If s is the cotangent angle, that is, two neighboring tangents angle of (P), then the curvature of the moving pole curve
(P) at the point P is rs du
. Similarly, if s0 is the cotangent ands
gle, then the curvature of the xed pole curve (P0 ) at the point
0
P is sr dw
. Suppose that the curvature radii of pole curves (P)
ds
and (P0 ) are

and
e  1 r0 dh ihs0  X;
e
dX
h

respectively, [9]. From the Eqs. (4) and (7), we have the sliding
velocity vector of the point X as
Vf

13

Taking into consideration the Eq. (12) together with the

Eq. (13) we reach that

where

dX
dt

11

3. EulerSavary formula for the homothetic motion in the

complex plane C

db r1 a1 r2 a2 db ibdueiu reiu ;

and

Vr

ir0  r
10
hs0  s
!
where, BP P p1 ip2 , [9]. If we pass to the Euclidean
coordinates, then the last equation becomes
P

Let fB; ~
a2 g; fO;~
e2 g and fO0 ;~
e02 g be the coordinate
a1 ; ~
e1 ;~
e01 ;~
systems of the moving complex planes A, E and xed complex
plane E0 , respectively. If u and w are the rotation angles of planar homothetic motions A/E and A/E0 , respectively, then
w  u is a the rotation angle of planar homothetic
motion
!
! !
E/E0 . If we denote the vectors BX ; OB and O0 B with the complex numbers
e x1 ix2 ;
X

where r1 ; r2 ; r01 ; r02 ; s and s0 are the Pfafan forms of the

complex homothetic motion with respect to t. To avoid the
_
_
cases of pure translation, we suppose that u0
and w0.
From the Eq. (9), for the pole points of the complex homothetic motion E/E0 , we have

df X
dt

and
e iw
df X r0  r ihs0  s Xe

Fig. 1

Pole curves of (P) and (P0 ).

EulerSavary formula for the homothetic motion in the complex plane C

r

r
s

and r0

r
s0

14

respectively. Moving plane E rotates around the rotation pole

P within the time scale dt and the innitesimal instantaneous
angle of the d/ = s0  s with respect to xed plane E0 . Therefore the angular velocity of rotational motion of E with respect
to becomes
s0  s d/ 

/:
dt
dt

15

307

and
!
PX0 x01 ix02 X0
have the same direction which passes the rotation pole P. Then
we write
X
k 2 R:
X0
Differentiating the last equations gives us

Suppose that for the direction of unit tangent vector

a1 ; ds
> 0. In these cases, since the curvature center of the movdt
ing pole curve (P) stays in the left-hand side of the directed
pole curve fP; !
a1 g, we can easily see that r > 0. Similarly
r0 > 0.
From the Eqs. (3) and (4) the velocities of the point X with
respect to the planes E and E0 are

dXX0  XdX0 0:

e hd Xe
e iu
dX r dh ihs X

X aeia

16

21

Substituting the Eqs. (18) and (19) into the Eq. (21) we nd
rX  X0 ihXX0 s0  s 0:

22

If we pass to polar coordinates that are

and X0 a0 eia :

23

From the Eq. (22) we have

and
e hd Xe
e iw
d0 X r dh ihs0 X

17

r01

where r r1 . Thus the condition that the point X to be

xed in the moving plane E and the xed plane E0 are
e r  dh ihs X
e
hd X

18

and
e r  dh ihs0 X
e
hd X

19

respectively. In this case the sliding velocity of the motion can

be given by
e iw
df X ihs0  s Xe

20

Now, let us investigate the curvature centers of the paths

are drawn in the xed plane by the points of moving plane
in the homothetic planar motion E/E0 .
0
Let the coordinates of the points
 0 X and
 X of the canonical
0
relative system be (x1, x2) and x1 ; x2 , respectively. These
points and the instantaneous rotation pole P stay on a line,
that is on an instantaneous path normal related to X at the
each time t. In general a curvature center with respect to a
point of a plane curve stays on the normal of the curve with
respect to that point. However, this curvature center can be
thought as a limit of the meeting point of the two neighboring
point that are on the curve (see Fig. 2).
Thus the vectors
!
PX x1 ix2 X

ra  a0 ihaa0 eia s0  s 0:

24

where a and a represent the distance of the points X and X0 to

the rotation pole P on the complex plane, (Fig. 2). Also, ds represents the scalar arc element and d/ represents the innitesimal angle of the motion of the pole curves. If we consider the
Eq. (15) together with the Eq. (24) we have




1 1 ia
1 1
d/
ie
h :


h

25
a0 a
r0 r
ds
The last equation is called EulerSavary formula for the
homothetic motions in complex plane C. Therefore the following theorem can be given.
Theorem 1. Let E and E0 be moving and xed complex planes.
A point X in E in a homothetic planar motion (E/ E0 ) draws a
path in plane E0 for which the curvature center is at the point X0 .
In the reverse motion E0 /E the point X0 in E0 draws a path in
plane E for which the curvature center is at the point X. The
relation
X and X0 is given by the equation
 1 1 between
 1the 1point

d/
ia
h r0  r h ds for the one parameter homothetic
a0  a ie
motions in complex plane C.
Special Case:
In the case of h = 1, from the Eq. (25), we get


1 1 ia 1 1 d/
ie 0 

:
a0 a
r
r
ds

26

which was given by [1].

4. Conclusions

Fig. 2 The distance of the points X and X0 to the rotation pole P

and the radii of curvature of pole curves P and P0 .

EulerSavary formula for one parameter homothetic motions

in complex plane is an extension of the EulerSavary formula
for one parameter motions in Euclidean plane and complex
plane given by [2,1]. For purpose of formulation, we use kinematically based complex number approach. Thus, we have obtained the complex number form of EulerSavary formula
under one parameter homothetic motion as (25). The author
hope that this formula will provide effective tools in mechanism design problems of planar motions.

308

M. Masal et al.
Melek Masal received B.Sc. Degree from
Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey
in 1991. She received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees
in Mathematics from Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey in 19941997,
respectively. She is an Associate Professor in
the Department of Elementary Education at
the Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey. Her
research interests are differential geometry,
kinematics and engineering physics and

References
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parameter motions in the complex plane C. Int. J. Phys. Sci.
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[2] H.R. Muller, K inematik, Sammlung Goschen, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 1963.
[3] Buckley R, Whiteld EV. The EulerSavary formula. The
Mathematical Gazette 1949;33(306):2979.
[4] Dooner DB, Grifs MW. On the spatial EulerSavary equations
for envelopes. J. Mech. Des. 2007;129(8):86575.
[5] Ito N, Takahashi K. Extension of the EulerSavary equation to
hypoid gears. JSME Int. Journal. Ser C. Mech. Syst.
1999;42(1):21824.
[6] Pennock GR, Sankaranarayanan H. Path curvature of a geared.
Seven-bar mechanism. Mech. Mach. Theory 2003;38:3451361.
[7] Pennock GR, Raje NN. Curvature theory for the double ier
eight-bar linkage. Mech. Mach. Theory 2004;39(7):66579.
[8] Blaschke W, Muller HR. Ebene Kinematik. Munchen: Verlag von
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Appl. Sci. Sect. E. Math. Stat. 2001;20(1):16.
[11] Sandor GN, Erdman AG, Hunt L, Raghavacharyulu E. New
complex-number forms of the EulerSavary equation in a
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mathematics.

Soley Ersoy received B.Sc. Degree from

Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey in
2000. She received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in
Mathematics from Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey in 20042007, respectively. She is
an Associate Professor in the Department of
Mathematics at the Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey. Her research interests are
geometry,
topology
and
engineering
mathematics.

Mehmet Ali Gungor received the B.Sc. degree

from Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey in
1998. He received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in
Mathematics from Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey in 20022006, respectively. He is
an Associate Professor in the Department of
Mathematics at the Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey. His research interests are engineering physics and mathematics, kinematics
and differential geometry.